Tomorrow is Detroit, MI city election primary for mayor, city clerk, city council, and charter review commission (the city of Detroit voted for the opportunity to have a new charter in the same election that voted Dave Bing mayor). I'm going to have a brief discussion on the relevant city council candidates (as well as a request for information regarding Otis Mathis, Derrick Hale, Mikal Crawford, and Ray Murphy none of whom I've heard of but they all finished in the top 18 in a recent poll) as well as a brief discussion of the charter commission candidates (the incumbent mayor and city clerk are not being strongly challenged so I'm not really going to discuss those races):
Incumbents running for re-election
Kenneth Cockrel Jr. (Council President)
Kwame Kenyatta
Brenda Jones
Joanna Watson
Martha Reeves
Alberta Tinsley-Talabi
Incumbents not running for re-election but who’s name’s remain on the ballot
Monica Conyers
Challengers who finished in the Top 18 during a recent poll
http://www.detnews.com/...
Charles Pugh-former anchor of the local Fox affiliate, also a former radio talk show host and if won a seat he’d be the council’s first openly gay member.
Gary Brown-former deputy chief of police in Detroit, notable as being one of the officers that disgraced former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick fired for investingating him
James Tate-former spokesman for the Detroit police department, has created a mentoring program to help at risk youth.
Reverend Andre Spivey-Pastor of the St. Paul A.M.E. church and a member of the brownfield redevelopment board
Saunteel Jenkins-director of a substance abuse treatment center, former chief of staff to former council president Maryanne Mahaffney
Jai-Lee Dearing-local restauranteur, finished a close 10th in the 2005 election
John K. Bennett-former police officer and creator of the detroituncovered.com website
Mikail Crawford-I don’t know him, but his website says he’s a trial lawyer in the city.
Annivory Calvert-I believe she’s the mother of state representative Coleman Young Jr.
Otis Mathis-I have no idea
Ray Murphy-Even less idea
Derrick Hale- ‘nada.
Who the hell are the last 3 names (and for that matter Crawford) that they scored as well as they did in the recent robo-poll?
Other notable candidates
Fred Elliot Hall – Has run 2 small businesses in the city for the last 20 years. He’s scored some of the better fundraising for the election.
Matthew Naimi – He runs the RecycleHere! Mobile recycling center business and has led a fight against illegal dumping. However, I can’t endorse him as he owes over $400,000 in back taxes.
Dalton Roberson Jr. – Currently a consultant but he’s been a policy wonk in Lansing and apparently has worked a Congressional staff position in the past.
Lisa Howze – Currently a self-employed CPA she has accounting experience with both DTE and a Big 5 firm. She garnered an endorsement from the Detroit Free Press.
David Cross – An attorney and a real estate developer he’s thinking outside the box in using the city’s tax code to discourage the speculators who buy land and hold it vacant. He also garnered the Free Press endorsement.
Raphael Johnson – A motivational speaker who’s used his past criminal background in his efforts to try to reach out to young people.
If you asked me to name my ideal council I would have to say that the top 9 names for the council would be: Cockrel Jr., Jones, Howze, Dearing, Cross, Brown, Jenkins, and probably Andre Spivey. Most of the more prominent challengers seem to be solid choices as I would mind Roberson, Shelly Foy, Fred Elliot Hall, or John Bennett making it. As for the incumbents? I stand by my earlier statements that the only other incumbent worthy of getting re-elected is Kwame Kenyatta as his exclusion from my preferred 9 is simply because I think there are better choices and has nothing to do with is direct performance.
Detroit Free Press Endorsements: http://www.freep.com/...
Detroit News article on the candidates with criminal records, tax problems and/or issues with foreclosures: http://www.detnews.com/...
Council Candidate Research link: http://www.detnews.com/...
Charter Review Commission
Detroit Free Press Endorsements: http://www.freep.com/...
Detroit News Endorsements: http://www.detnews.com/...
There are currently three fairly familiar names that are running for charter commission: former Deputy Mayor Freeman Hendrix (who came a close third in the Spring Mayoral election), former Detroit and Macomb County Ombudsman John E. Eddings, and former Wayne County Clerk Teola Hunter (1991-2000 County Clerk, was in the State House from 1980-1991).
Other interesting candidates include:
National Labor Relations Board attorney Patty Fedewa
CEO of Detroit Black Expo Ken Harris
Detroit Ethics Board Vice Chair Jenice Mitchell
Actually anyone endorsed by the Free Press or the news would be good choices and I’ve always liked Hendrix (and Eddings always made a good impression also). Ideally the commission will be made up of a combination of attornies and people with a background in the city administration (as the charter is both a legal document and the set up of the city's rules/government).